It's telling that the Obama Administration has already rebranded their efforts to socialize medicine in this country.  Not that the concept of socialized medicine is explicitly stated anywhere in the 1018 pages of the House bill...but it's in there...They have now taken great pains to talk about "Health Insurance Reform," a not-so-hidden jab at the supposed villains in the healthcare system - that is, if you believe Nancy Pelosi's assessment of the insurance industry.  

Interestingly, yesterday's Rasmussen Report conveys that 51% of the American people fear government more than insurance companies.   And there is much more to come.  Despite being one of the traditionally quieter news periods of the year, the next few weeks should prove to provide a much richer and more colorful storyline of the government's plan.  This is good, because most of the voting public were lulled into disinterest in the earlier days of congressional discussion on addressing healthcare change.  People need to be engaged and involved, and their voices need to be heard in the many forums now available for discourse.  The national media will pick up on the events where anger and confrontation occur, but this will only fuel more rational expression about the direction of the debate.

We need to understand the "why" of all this.  What is the ultimate outcome?  Lawmakers seem to be long on tactics and short on strategy.  Their goal is, or was,  to provide health insurance for the majority of the uninsured, but a key question is, to what end?  

Many in the industry would agree that a central outcome should be to improve the health of American citizens.  Is broader insurance coverage the answer to that?  Or do we need to do more work addressing the root cause of poor health in this country?  

In a nation that is, generally speaking, out of shape, noncompliant, happy for a handout and "living in the moment", are we really going to expect health behavior change just because more of the population have health insurance?  This is simply going to add health costs to a system that needs fundamental restructuring.   

The real opportunity is to put more attention toward the demand side of the equation.   Despite the recent vocal public outcry against the government plan, consumer power in healthcare has been extraordinarily weak and disorganized.  Oh, there has been activism around breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and some other diseases, but when it comes to being market-driven, healthcare is at the bottom of the list.  National advocacy efforts would do well to first address personal responsibility and behavior change on the demand side before we put additional untold billions into the dysfunctional supply side.  


Frank Hone
Author, Why Healthcare Matters
Naples, FL


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